SHANGHAI, Feb 8 (SMM) — According to SMM survey, domestic silver output stood at 1193.3 mt in February.

Silver prices fluctuated sharply since the second half of last year, and there have been several arbitrage opportunities for export ratios that widened the price difference between the SHFE and LME silver. Most domestic manufacturers with export quotas participated in the large-scale production of silver ingots for export. Although export ratio recovered at the beginning of this year, there were also several very short-term arbitrage opportunities. Therefore, operating rates of smelters with export quotas were higher than other smelters. The competition for silver-containing materials, including anode slime, became increasingly fierce. The silver-containing materials supply became tight. Small and medium-sized smelters cannot purchase silver-containing materials and the stock of silver-containing materials is not enough to run the furnaces, leading to production cuts and suspension of some plants.

In addition, some manufacturers such as Yunxi and Gejiu Lianxing took the opportunity to turn into maintenance during the CNY in February. It is expected that the silver produced by manufacturers with export quotas for export will be freshly released in March. Coupled with the resumption of production by some manufacturers, China's silver output is likely to increase.